Phnom Penh Pals: Team Helm in Cambodia

Being invited into a home is an intimate and eye-opening privilege. Due to substantial distance and a large ocean, we cannot extend a dinner invitation to most of our loved ones. So, we wanted to invite you to virtually visit our home in the following pictures. You are welcome guests! Here is the view from our front door. Across the dirt road (the "main street" of Mbingo) is a 4-unit building where some of the hospital residents and physicians live. You will walk through the door into our living and dining room. Not pictured: a big window and another couch to the left. Past the bookshelf on the right is our hallway. If you turn to the right, you will enter our "guest room". Esther is not a guest, but she sleeps here because when the kids sleep together... none of us sleeps. Hopefully we will get Esther into Josiah's room before Auntie Coco comes to visit in October (otherwise they will be roommates: second generation!). Further down the h

Below is the content of a letter I was asked to write, responding to a friend's hesitancy towards vaccination. I am posting it here, because I have had similar discussions on multiple occasions and hope these thoughts will be helpful to anyone confused by the vaccine debate. "Greetings, friend! I am writing because I care about you, the health of your kids, and the wellbeing of the general public. I know you are an excellent husband and father, and believe you only want what's best for your children. As a mother, I understand the shades of gray that often seem to settle over parenting decisions like discipline techniques, educational approaches, and medical care. As a physician, I have committed the last 15 years of my life (nearly half!) to the study of evidence-based medicine. The field of medicine has evolved substantially over time, but the process by which therapeutic guidelines are created is more or less standard. Medical interventions (including vaccinations) are